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Family of cadet killed in Kingston, Ont., crash grieves with ‘a deep hole in our hearts’

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One of the Royal Military College cadets who died on campus in Kingston, Ont., last week will be remembered during a Toronto funeral service on Sunday.

At about┬а2 a.m. on April 29, a┬аvehicle carrying the four officer cadets, all in their graduating year, went into the water off┬аPoint Frederick,┬аa peninsula┬аthat sits between Kingston Harbour and Navy Bay on the St. Lawrence River.

No foul play is suspected, according to the arm of military police that is investigating the incident, which has appealed to the public for more information.┬а┬а

The four cadets have been identified as Andrei Honciu,┬аAndr├йs Salek, Broden Murphy and 27-year-old Jack Hogarth.

An obituary published by Hogarth’s family┬аthis week in The Globe and Mail said the other three cadets who died alongside Hogarth in the “tragic car accident” were his┬а“dearest friends.”┬а

“The loss of Jack at such an early age leaves all of us who loved him with a deep hole in our hearts,” the obituary reads.┬а

A ‘crack shot’ and avid journal keeper

Hogarth was poised to graduate from the Kingston military college with a bachelor of arts in military and strategic studies at its spring convocation in two weeks.┬а

According to the school’s commanding┬аofficer, Hogarth┬аwas going to be an armour officer in the Canadian Army, providing reconnaissance┬аand direct-fire support in battle from armoured fighting vehicles such as tanks.

“So near to graduation and pursuing his life’s ambition to serve in the military, there was great promise ahead of him,” his family wrote.

Hogarth kept a daily journal and was an avid┬аreader on politics, military history and current events, his family said. He also enjoyed a wide array of sports and was a “crack shot.”┬а

Hogarth was a “well-respected” graduate of the class of 2013, said Lynda Torneck, a spokesperson for Crescent School, an all-boys┬аelementary and secondary┬аschool in Toronto.

“We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident,” she said in an emailed statement.┬а

‘The entire RMC community is devastated,’ says commandant

Commodore Jos├йe Kurtz, the head of the Royal Military College of Canada, spoke briefly about each of the four army cadets who died Friday, after their vehicle went into the St. Lawrence River. 1:45

Commodore┬аJos├йe┬аKurtz, who oversees the college, said as a parent herself she could only imagine the pain for the families of each of the four victims.┬а

“We will continue to provide them the support they need in the┬аtough days and weeks ahead,” she said.

In the obituary,┬аthe family thanked the college for providing Hogarth “with the opportunity to follow his dream┬аand for their kind support at this difficult time.”

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